System and method for mobile interaction

ABSTRACT

According to one embodiment, a method for collecting feedback from a mobile device user using a mobile interaction application executed on one or more processors of a mobile device includes receiving a selection of a target of the feedback from the mobile device user; presenting a graphical user interface on a display of the mobile device, the graphical user interface including a multi-level rating scale and an open-ended comment element; receiving feedback associated with the selected target from the mobile device user through an input device of the mobile device, the received feedback corresponding to at least one of the multi-level rating scale and the open-ended comment element; and wirelessly transmitting a message including the received feedback associated with the selected target and corresponding to at least one of the multi-level rating scale and the open-ended comment element.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to computer-implemented customersupport and more particularly to a computer-implemented system andmethod for providing mobile interaction.

BACKGROUND

Businesses interact with their customers and potential customers in avariety of ways. These interactions may occur at different locations ortouch points. For example, these interactions may occur at a physicalplace of business, through a website, or through various physical andelectronic media and advertisements. To facilitate the communication ofa common marketing theme, a business may attempt to provide continuitythrough consistent themes across all touch points with their customersand potential customers. A business may also solicit feedback or otherforms of interaction from their customers or potential customers atvarious touch points. For example, a business may request feedback fromcustomers at their place of business through the use of pre-paid postagecomment cards, comment card drop boxes, or through personal inquirywhile the customer is at their place of business. Some businesses maysolicit feedback from customers who visit their online website throughvarious feedback collection applications. However, utilizing theinformation received from customers and potential customers acrossvarious points of contact may be difficult.

Overview

Particular embodiments of the invention may reduce or eliminate problemsand disadvantages associated with previous techniques for interactingwith customers and potential customers or with utilizing informationprovided by customers or potential customers.

According to one embodiment, a method for collecting feedback from amobile device user using a mobile interaction application executed onone or more processors of a mobile device includes receiving a selectionof a target of the feedback from the mobile device user; presenting agraphical user interface on a display of the mobile device, thegraphical user interface including a multi-level rating scale and anopen-ended comment element; receiving feedback associated with theselected target from the mobile device user through an input device ofthe mobile device, the received feedback corresponding to at least oneof the multi-level rating scale and the open-ended comment element; andwirelessly transmitting a message including the received feedbackassociated with the selected target and corresponding to at least one ofthe multi-level rating scale and the open-ended comment element.

According to embodiment, software for collecting feedback from a mobiledevice user is operable to receive a selection of a target of thefeedback from the mobile device user; present a graphical user interfaceon a display of the mobile device, the graphical user interfacecomprising a multi-level rating scale and an open-ended comment element;receive feedback associated with the selected target from the mobiledevice user through an input device of the mobile device, the receivedfeedback corresponding to at least one of the multi-level rating scaleand the open-ended comment element; and wirelessly transmit a messageincluding the received feedback associated with the selected target andcorresponding to at least one of the multi-level rating scale and theopen-ended comment element.

According to one embodiment, a mobile apparatus for use in collectingfeedback for a selected target includes a wireless transceiver, adigital display, a digital camera, one or more processors, and memory.The one or more processors are coupled to the transceiver, the digitaldisplay, the digital camera, and the memory. The memory stores programinstructions configured to receive data from the digital camera, thedata corresponding to a barcode image collected by digital camera; totransmit an outgoing message using the wireless transceiver, theoutgoing message containing at data corresponding to at least a portionof the barcode image; to receive an incoming message using the wirelesstransceiver, the incoming message containing parameters for one or morefeedback solicitation elements based on the data contained in theoutgoing message; and to present the one or more feedback solicitationelements on the digital display using the parameters received in theincoming message.

According to one embodiment, a computer-implemented method for providingmobile interaction includes accessing information associated with a userexperience for a particular mobile user and associated with a targetentity, the accessed information including user feedback collected fromthe particular mobile user using mobile interaction software on a mobiledevice, the target entity having been selected based either onassociation with a location of the mobile device or on association witha graphical image collected by a camera on the mobile device; accessingintervention trigger logic; identifying at least one interventiontrigger by applying the intervention trigger logic to at least a portionof the accessed information associated with the user experience; andgenerating one or more intervention elements for presentation to theparticular mobile user, in response to the identification of at leastone intervention trigger. Although certain embodiments are describedabove, numerous other embodiments are contemplated as described furtherbelow.

Certain embodiments may provide a number of technical advantages relatedto interacting with customers or potential customers across one or moreof a wide variety of touch points. Certain embodiments may providesupport for anonymous comments or feedback from customers or potentialcustomers. Certain embodiments may provide a more convenient mechanismfor providing comments or feedback. Certain embodiments may allow forreal-time or substantially real-time analysis of information provided bycustomers or potential customers. Certain embodiments may provide theability to provide support to customers or potential customers and suchsupport may be provided in real-time or substantially real-time incertain situations. Certain embodiments may provide faster or moreaccurate utilization of information provided by customers or potentialcustomers. Certain embodiments may help businesses or business managersrecognize when a mobile user is having a poor experience and takeappropriate action to mitigate the problem to improve their experience.Certain embodiments allow for automated intervention when a mobile useris having a poor experience. Certain embodiments may improve userretention by addressing user needs in real-time. Certain embodimentsallow improved methods of advertising and cross selling to customers orpotential customers. Certain embodiments may provide all, some, or noneof the advantages described. Certain embodiments may provide one or moreother technical advantages, one or more of which may be readily apparentto those of skilled in the art from the figures, descriptions, andclaims included herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and forfurther features and advantages thereof, reference is now made to thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system for use in providing mobileinteraction;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example mobile device for usein providing mobile interaction;

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate front and back views of an example mobile device;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example graphical user interface to providealternative selection methods for a target of mobile interaction;

FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate example mobile interaction solicitations;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example graphical user interface to facilitatescanning or otherwise collecting an image or tag;

FIG. 7 illustrates a graphical user interface to facilitate selection ofa target based on the location of a mobile device;

FIG. 8 illustrates components that may be used to determine the locationof a mobile device;

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate example graphical user interfaces for a mobileinteraction application;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example response generated after a user providesfeedback;

FIGS. 11-12 illustrate example interventions; and

FIGS. 13-14 illustrate example methods for providing support andleveraging user experiences.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Businesses interact with their customers and potential customers in avariety of ways. These interactions may occur at different locations ortouch points. For example, these interactions may occur at a physicalplace of business, through a website, or through various physical andelectronic media and advertisements. To facilitate the communication ofa common marketing theme, a business may attempt to provide continuitythrough consistent themes across all touch points with their customersand potential customers. A business may also solicit feedback or otherforms of interaction from their customers or potential customers atvarious touch points. For example, a business may request feedback fromcustomers at their place of business through the use of pre-paid postagecomment cards, comment card drop boxes, or through personal inquirywhile the customer is at their place of business. Some businesses maysolicit feedback from customers who visit their online website throughvarious feedback collection applications. Example feedback collectionapplications are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,421,724;6,606,581; and 6,928,392, each of which is incorporated herein byreference. However, utilizing the information received from customersand potential customers across various points of contact may bedifficult. Specifically, it may be difficult or time consuming toanalyze and respond to handwritten feedback on printed comment cards.Similarly, it may be difficult or time consuming to combine informationreceived from various touch points into a common resource for analysis.

According to certain embodiments of the invention, a common system maybe used to receive and analyze information provided by customers andpotential customers at a variety of touch points. For example, anapplication that collects feedback from website users may populate adatabase that is also used by an application that receives feedbacksubmitted by mobile device users. By combining the information fromvarious sources, more meaningful analysis may be performed.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, an applicationmay be loaded on a mobile device to facilitate interaction with mobileusers. In certain embodiments, the interaction may be directed at aparticular business, store, service, and/or advertisement. In certainembodiments, the user may select the particular target for the mobileinteraction based on their current location, by selecting a company or astore using a search algorithm, or by using a mobile device to thetarget based on an image. For example, a mobile user may scan orphotograph a graphic image, or tag, to identify a particular business,product, advertisement, store, etc. In certain embodiments, the image ortag may include a 1D barcode, a 2D barcode, and/or a color barcode.Example bar code standards may include, but are not limited to, QR,DataMatrix, EAN-8, EAN-13, UPC-A, and UPC-E. In a certain embodiments,the image or tag may include a plus sign enclosed by brackets [+]. In aparticular embodiment the plus sign enclosed by brackets [+] may besubstantially at the center of the image for recognition. The mobileuser may then utilize the application to provide information related tothe particular business, product, advertisement, store, etc., including,for example, an opinion, comment, rating, question, and/or suggestion.

Feedback and other forms of information from the mobile user and/ormobile device may be provided and/or collected by various means. Forexample, feedback may be provided and collected in the form of writtenor typed comments, verbal comments, physical movements, or by variousother means. In certain embodiments, feedback may be provided andcollected in the form of comments from a user. For example, in certainembodiments the user may provide feedback by responding to questions orprompts provided electronically. In certain embodiments, a user commentmay be provided by selecting a choice from a list, or by checking ormarking a visual element. Certain embodiments allow a user to providefeedback by providing written comments, verbal comments, or otherwisecommunicating a statement. In certain embodiments, feedback may bereceived and/or collected by receiving user selections, such asselection of elements in a list, diagram, chart, graph, or figuredisplayed on a graphical user interface. Certain embodiments provide forfeedback provision and/or collection according to various other methods.

In certain embodiments, user feedback may be categorized by the userthat provides the feedback through the use of one or more toolsavailable at the time the feedback is provided. For example, while auser is using a mobile application or web page feedback application, theuser may identify a category for a particular user comment. As analternative, all or a portion of the user comments may be automaticallycategorized by one or more software applications executed on a computersystem, in response to the user comments being accessed. For example, asoftware application executed on a computer system may utilize keywordassociations to categorize user comments. In addition, or as analternative, a software application executed on a computer system mayutilize inductive learning algorithms, including Bayesian filters, orother appropriate logic to categorize user comments. In certainembodiments, a software application executed on a computer may utilizenatural language interpretation techniques.

In certain embodiments, user comments may be categorized at least inpart based on the user's demographic information, contextualinformation, or other information relating to the user or the user'smethods of providing feedback. For example, a mobile user's comments maybe categorized based on the user's location (including a particularlocation within a store), a user's phone brand or model, a user'snetwork access provider (mobile phone company), a user's purchasehistory, a user's feedback history, etc. As another example, web pageuser comments may be categorized based on the user's IP address,hostname, username, password, network connection, time zone, operatingsystem, web browser, screen resolution, plug-ins, referring page, and/orbrowser history. In certain embodiments, this categorization based ondemographic information or contextual information may be used as analternative to, or in addition to, categorization based on the user'scomments or other feedback.

In certain embodiments, user comments may be tracked or categorizedbased on information provided by or associated with the user. Forexample, a user may perform an initial set-up and provide their name,address, email, phone number, demographic information (such as age,gender, income, marital status, ethnicity, etc.), lifestyle information,or preferences (such as sports, entertainment, fashion, political, orconsumer purchase preferences). The user may then be provided with auser identifier that they can provide in the future to associate futureactivities with some or all of the information provided. In certainembodiment, this identifier may be provided automatically if the userinteracts using the same device. In an alternative embodiment, a usermay provide or select certain information each time the user providescomments or other interactions. In certain embodiments, a user mayprovide information one time and then have an option to pre-populateselected information during future uses with the same device or byproviding an identifier.

At the time that feedback is provided by a user through the use of afeedback mechanism, such feedback may provide a strong indication ofwhether the user is having a positive, neutral, or negative experience.By processing this feedback in real-time, alone or in combination withother information, actions can be taken to improve or enhance thatparticular user's experience at or near that particular point in time.In situations where the particular user is having a negative experience,such real-time intervention may be necessary to retain the user. In somesituations, the few seconds after a user submits feedback may be theonly opportunity to improve the user's experience before they leave thelocation, never to return. Accordingly, the ability to take action inthis few seconds may be critical to retain a user, such as a webcustomer or mobile user. Although not required, in certain embodiments,in order to take action to intervene with a particular user'sexperience, characteristics of the user's experience must be determined,triggering or threshold requirements must be met, and appropriateinterventions must be identified and delivered to the particular userquickly. In some instances, such intervention must be delivered beforethe user leaves a particular location.

Various embodiments may use a variety of triggers or threshold criteriato determine when an intervention should be initiated. For example, anintervention may be initiated automatically upon receipt of negativefeedback. In a particular embodiment, an intervention may be triggeredin response to an analysis of the words and phrases used in anopen-ended comment provided in feedback by the user. In variousembodiments, this analysis may be performed through the use of Booleanqueries, through the application of Bayesian filters, or through the useof alternative automated inductive learning algorithms or other forms ofartificial intelligence.

For example, based on an analysis of a plurality of user generatedcomments associated with corresponding multilevel ratings, a series offilters may be developed to identify particular words and phrases that,in combination, indicate a positive or negative user experience. Thesetypes of filters may be expanded to further consider additionalinformation such as user demographics and contextual data. In certainembodiments, natural language interpretation techniques may be used toanalyze particular blocks of text to evaluate the content. In certainembodiments, the threshold or trigger criteria may vary over time orfrom one user to the next according to specified criteria. For example,the threshold level may increase or decrease to some extent based onrandomization logic such that the intervention experience is notidentical from one user to the next. Through the use of such variation,additional information may be determined regarding the appropriatetrigger levels and/or the appropriate interventions to achieve optimalresults.

In certain embodiments, once a triggering threshold has been met and adetermination has been made to initiate an intervention, the appropriateintervention may be identified and presented to the particular user.Although in certain embodiments, a single intervention may apply to allusers who satisfy the specified triggering threshold, in alternativeembodiments, a variety of interventions may be available. In aparticular embodiment, comment feedback key-word associations may beused alone or in combination with contextual data to specify aparticular intervention. Such intelligent support may enhance theparticular user's experience, which may result in continued or increasedutilization by the user.

In a particular embodiment, an intervention may be in the form of atrouble ticket form that can be pre-populated with information collectedregarding the particular user's experience. For example, in response todetermining that a particular user has reported a problem related to aparticular product in an open-ended comment box in a feedback form, atrouble ticket form may be generated that identifies the the text of theproblem reported, the type of product discussed, and/or any otherrelevant information collected. Such a trouble ticket may be availablefor the particular user to review and send without having to re-type anyof the information previously provided or to type informationpre-populated in the trouble ticket form. Such intelligent support mayencourage the user to submit the trouble ticket, allowing for a properresponse and the possibility of continued use of the product by theuser. In certain embodiments, such intelligent support may prevent theprovision of the feedback by the user from being the last interactionthat the user has with a product or associated entity. In anotherparticular embodiment, an intervention may be in the form of a link to awebsite.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 for providing mobileinteraction. System 100 includes one or more mobile devices 10, contentserver 20, and support server 30, coupled to one another using network40. Mobile device 10 may be a portable wireless network device capableof sending and receiving communications signals. In particularembodiments, mobile device 10 may be a wireless handset such as a mobilephone 10 a or PDA 10 b. Although example mobile devices 10 areidentified herein, any appropriate mobile device may be used to interactwith one or more other components of system 100. Content server 20 andsupport server 30 may be autonomous computer systems or they may receiveappropriate input from one or more associated persons. Content server 20and support server 30 may include software operating on one or morecomputer systems 50. In certain embodiments, content server 20 andsupport server 30 may operate on at least one shared computer system. Incertain embodiments, content server 20 and support server 30 may belocally or remotely distributed across multiple computer systems. Incertain embodiments, content server 20 and support server 30 may beco-located on a single device. In certain embodiments, mobile device 10,content server 20, and/or support server 30 may include input devices,output devices, processors, memories, and other components suitable forthe features and operation described below.

Content server 20 may generate feedback solicitations 24 comprising oneor more feedback elements 26. In certain embodiments, feedback elementsmay be stored on content server 20 and transmitted to mobile device 10for use in displaying feedback solicitation on mobile device 10. Incertain embodiments, feedback solicitation may be displayed in the formof one or more graphical user interfaces, examples of which aredescribed below in relation to FIGS. 9A-9C. In certain embodiments,content server transmits elements that identify content alreadycontained by mobile device 10, such that the elements may be used by themobile device to format content for display to a user.

Support server 30 includes collection module 32, triggering module 34,intervention module 36, tracking module 38, and database 39. Althougheach module is described separately, two or more of these modules may becombined and/or certain modules may be formed from one or moreadditional modules. Collection module 32 includes logic to collectinformation from a particular user. This information may include currentand/or historical feedback, current and/or historical web traffichistory, contextual information, purchasing history, and/or demographicinformation. Triggering module 34 includes logic to analyze one or moreportions of the information collected by collection module 32 todetermine whether a particular intervention is needed at a particulartime for a particular user. Intervention module 36 includes logic toidentify and generate one or more interventions to improve a user'sexperience. Tracking module 38 includes logic to collect, store, andmonitor a user's utilization of particular interventions. In certainembodiments, tracking module 38 may further include logic to correlateintervention utilization with overall user retention information.Further description of the logic and associated functions associatedwith collection module 32, triggering module 34, intervention module 36,and tracking module 38 is provided below. In certain embodiments,database 39 stores information collected and used by collection module32, triggering module 34, intervention module 36, and tracking module38. Although database 39 is described herein as a single database, incertain embodiments, the information stored in database 39 may bedistributed across multiple databases housed in one or multiple local orremotely distributed systems.

Components of system 100 may be coupled using network 40. Network 40 maybe a wireless network, including but not limited to network satisfyingone or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards; network 40 may be an analog ordigital cellular network; and/or network 40 may be any suitablecombination of the two. In certain embodiments, portions of network 40may include or be coupled to a local area network (LAN), metropolitanarea network (MAN), wide area network (WAN), global communicationsnetwork (such as the Internet), or any other suitable wireless orwireline network. Although mobile devices 10, content server 12, andsupport server 14 are described as coupled using a single network 40,the present invention contemplates multiple networks 40 of the same typeor different types to couple these components to one another, accordingto particular needs.

Although system 100 is described herein as an example system for mobileinteraction, any appropriate system may be used to accomplish thefunctions disclosed herein without departing from the scope of certainembodiments of the present invention. For example, various components ofsystem 100 may be combined.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example mobile device 10. In theembodiment shown, mobile device 10 includes processor 12, memory 13,display 14, network interface 15, input device 16, locator 17, andcamera 18. In alternative embodiments, mobile device 10 may include moreor fewer components. The components of mobile device 10 may be coupledto, enclosed within, or integrated with a housing 11. FIG. 3A and 3Billustrate front and back views respectively of an example mobile device10 for use with system 100. In the embodiment shown, mobile device 10includes housing 11, display 14, input device 16, and camera 18.

Processor 12 represents one or more modules configured to control theoperation of mobile device 10 and/or to execute one or more softwaremodules stored in memory 13 and/or received through network interface15. For example, processor 12 may be a programmable logic device, amicrocontroller, a microprocessor, any suitable processing device, orany combination of the preceding. Memory 13 may represent one or morevolatile or non-volatile memory modules. For example, memory 13 mayinclude, but is not limited to, one or more flash memory modules. Inaddition, memory 13 may include one or more removable memory modules. Incertain embodiments, memory module may store all or a portion of amobile interaction application that may be executed by processor 12.

Display 14 provides a visual interface for mobile device 10. In certainembodiments, display 14 may be used to display text, graphical images,and/or video to a user of mobile device 10. In a particular embodiment,display 14 may represent an LCD screen. Network interface 15 includescomponents configured to communicate information and signals to andreceive information and signals from one or more components of network40. In particular embodiments, network interface may include one or moreantennas and accompanying hardware and controlling logic to communicatewith a wireless network using one or a combination of multiple wirelessstandards, including but not limited to appropriate TDMA, CDMA, GSM,IEEE 802.11, and 3GPP standards.

Input device 16 includes components to receive input from a user ofmobile device 10. For example, input device 16 may include one or moreof a keypad, keyboard, selection buttons (on any surface or side ofhousing 11), a directional pad, trackball, or any other suitablecomponents to receive input from a user of mobile device 10. In certainembodiments the functionality of input device 15 may be combined withdisplay 14 as a touchscreen to enable a user to provide input to mobiledevice 10 by touching or otherwise manipulating a visual display. Incertain embodiments, input device 16 may include one or more componentsto detect and interpret movement or orientation of all or a portion ofmobile device 10. In certain embodiments, input device 16 may include amicrophone and/or other suitable components to receive audible inputfrom a user of mobile device 10.

Locator 17 includes components configured to determine a location ofmobile device 10. In certain embodiments, location may be determined inlatitude and longitude coordinates. In alternative embodiments, locationmay be determined relative to or by proximity to one or more fixedlocations, such as by proximity to one or more antennas. In certainembodiments, locator 17 may determine the location of mobile device 10through the use of GPS, AGPS, LORAN, cell-tower or WiFi antennatriangulation, cell-tower or WiFi antenna proximity or signal strength,and/or other appropriate techniques. In certain embodiments, locator 17may use multiple techniques to determine the location of mobile device10 at a given time or may use different techniques depending on theavailability or reliability of the different techniques at differenttimes or locations. In a particular embodiment, locator 17 includes aGPS chipset. Locator 17 may also include an antenna that may be the sameor different from an antenna used to communicate with a wirelessnetwork. In certain embodiments, in addition to or as an alternative tothe location of mobile device 10 being determined by locator 17, thelocation of mobile device 10 may be determined by an external system,such as by one or more components of a cellular or wireless network. Incertain embodiments, components of locator 17 may be common to or sharecomponents of processor 12. For example, all or a portion of thelocation determinations may be performed by processor 12. Camera 18includes any suitable hardware and/or software to facilitate capturingimages. For example, camera 18 may include lenses, light sensors,controllers, and image capture and processing logic.

In operation, a user may initiate or launch a mobile interactionapplication on mobile device 10. In certain embodiments, a user mayselect a particular target for the mobile interaction based on currentlocation, by selecting a company, store, etc. using a search algorithmor web browser, or by using camera 18 to select the target based on animage or tag.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example graphical user interface 140 that may bepresented to on mobile device 10 to provide alternative selectionmethods for a target of mobile interaction. In the embodiment shown,graphical user interface 140 presents two alternatives. The firstalternative is to select the target by scanning or otherwise collectingan image or tag. In this embodiment, this first option may be elected byselecting graphical selection element 142. The second alternative is toselect the target based on the location of mobile device 10. In thisembodiment, this second option may be elected by selecting graphicalselection element 144. Although graphical user interface 140 identifiestwo alternative selection methods, in other embodiments other selectionmethods could be presented. Other selection methods may include one ormore of an option to select the target based on a string or keywordsearch, an option to select the target based on an address, an option toselect the target by identifying a website affiliated with the target,an option to select the target from a map, and/or an option to selectfrom most popular, recent, or a pre-defined list of targets. In aparticular embodiment, a pre-defined list of targets may be genericacross all users or may be customized for a particular user or group ofusers.

In a particular embodiment, a group may or entity may identify aparticular product or service and solicit feedback from the members ofthe particular group or affiliated with or identified by the entity. Forexamples, members of a particular club or organization may be solicitedby that club or organization to provide feedback for a particularproduct or service. In certain embodiments, demographic or other userinformation may be used to identify a target group for a survey or toprovide feedback for a particular product, service, idea, or othersurvey topic. For example, a particular solicitation may be distributedonly to users within a certain age and gender category, or only to usersat a specified income level. In certain embodiments, members of a groupmay elect to receive such solicitations and may chose whether or not toparticipate in such surveys.

In response to the mobile interaction application receiving an electionto select a mobile interaction target by scanning or otherwisecollecting an image or tag, the application may activate an imagecollection software module, which may activate camera 18. An image ortag from a mobile interaction solicitation may then be collected usingcamera 18 on mobile device 10.

FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate example mobile interaction solicitations 150.FIG. 5A illustrates an example solicitation 150 a that may be used at apoint of sale; FIG. 5B illustrates an example solicitation 150 b thatmay be used with a purchase receipt; FIG. 5C illustrates an examplesolicitation 150 c that may be used with a passenger document, such asan airline boarding pass; and FIG. 5D illustrates an examplesolicitation 150 d that may be used with an advertisement, such as aprinted advertisement in a magazine or newspaper. Each solicitationincludes a graphical element 150 that may be scanned or photographed bycamera 18 to initiate mobile interaction or to identify a target ofmobile interaction. In certain embodiments, graphical element 150 mayinclude a 1D barcode, a 2D barcode, and/or a color barcode. In certainembodiments, graphical element 150 may comply with one or more barcodestandards, such as QR, DataMatrix, EAN-8, EAN-13, UPC-A, and UPC-E. In acertain embodiments, graphical element 150 may include a plus signenclosed by brackets [+]. In a particular embodiment the plus signenclosed by brackets [+] may be substantially at the center of graphicalelement 150 for recognition by a user and/or mobile interactionapplication. In certain embodiments, a mobile interaction applicationmay be launched automatically in response to a user scanning orcollecting an image of a mobile interaction solicitation with camera 18.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example graphical user interface 160 that may bepresented to a user on display 14 to facilitate scanning or otherwisecollecting an image or tag. In the embodiment shown, graphical userinterface 160 displays image 162 of graphical element 150 scanned orcollected by camera 18. In response to a determination by the mobileinteraction application that image 162 is recognized or associated witha known target, graphical user interface 160 may include a message 164indicating that the image or tag has been found. In certain embodiments,graphical user interface 160 may include a selection element 166 thatthe user may select to proceed. In certain embodiments, an image or tagmay be associated with a particular company and graphical user interface160 may display a list of stores owned by that company from which theuser may select. In certain embodiments, the image or tag may beassociated with a particular store and graphical user interface 160 maydisplay a list of services available at the particular store forselection by the user.

FIG. 7 illustrates a graphical user interface 170 to facilitateselection of a target based on the location of mobile device 10. Incertain embodiments, mobile interaction application may utilize locator17 to determine the location of mobile device 10. For example, inembodiments where locator 17 represents a GPS chipset, mobileinteraction application may utilize the GPS chipset to determine thecurrent latitude and longitude of mobile device 10. Based on thisdetermination, mobile application or a remote application may determineone or more targets associated or in proximity to the determinedlocation. The application may then generate graphical user interface170, including target list 172 with one or more potential targetsassociated with or in proximity to the location of mobile device 10.

Alternatively, a user may type or otherwise indicate the name or type oftarget to select using element 174. For example, the user could enter astore name in element 174 and the application would generate a targetlist 172 of stores with that name (or with a similar name) in closeproximity to the current location of mobile device 10. As anotherexample, the user could enter a type of store (such as grocery,restaurant, or coffee) in element 174 and the application would generatea target list 172 of stores of that type (or similar type) in closeproximity to the current location of mobile device. In certainembodiments, target list 172 may be sorted based on proximity, userhistory, popularity, and/or any other appropriate criteria. In theseembodiments, the user may select a target from target list 172. Incertain embodiments, the application may utilize information stored inmemory 13 and/or may send queries and receive information throughnetwork interface 15 to generate target list 172.

In a particular embodiment, mobile application may initially present atarget list based on geographic proximity and then provide userselection options to narrow the search criteria. In this embodiment, oneof the user selection options may be to scan or photograph a visualelement such as a mobile tag to select a target. In alternativeembodiments, a user may narrow the target list by typing or otherwiseidentifying a target by name, category, or subject matter.

FIG. 8 illustrates components that may be used according to varioustechniques to determine the location of mobile device 10. As discussedabove, mobile device 10 may include a GPS chipset and an application onmobile device 10 may use the GPS chipset to determine the location ofmobile device 10. In such embodiments, the GPS chipset would receivesignals from a plurality of satellites 184 and use the informationincluded in those signals to determine the location (e.g. latitude andlongitude) of mobile device 10. In certain embodiments, mobile devicemay receive information through network interface 15 to increase theaccuracy and or speed with which the GPS chipset determines the locationof mobile device 10. For example, mobile device 10 may receive AGPS datatransmitted to mobile device 10 by a cellular antenna 182.

In certain embodiments, in addition to or as an alternative to using aGPS chipset, locator 17 may determine the location of mobile device 10through the use of triangulation relative to cell towers 182 and/or WiFiaccess points 186. In certain embodiments, this triangulation may useinformation stored in memory 13 and/or received through networkinterface 15. In certain embodiments, locator 17 may determine thelocation of mobile device 10 by evaluating the signal strength of one ormore cell towers and/or WiFi access points. In certain embodiments,locator 17 may determine an approximate location and also determine aprobability or error band associated with that location. In certainembodiments, the location of mobile device 10 may be determined by oneor more components in communication with mobile device 10 throughnetwork interface 15. For example, one or more components of a cellularnetwork may determine the location of mobile device 10 and communicatethe determined location information to mobile device 10 and/or othercomponents of system 100.

Once a particular target has been identified, the mobile interactionapplication may display a graphical user interface generated by mobileinteraction application or received via network interface 15. FIGS.9A-9C illustrate example graphical user interfaces 190 that may be usedwith a mobile interaction application. As shown in FIG. 9A, graphicaluser interface 190 may facilitate the collection of user feedbackthrough the presentation of one or more feedback elements, including butnot limited to a multi-level rating scale 191 and an open-ended commentelement 192. In this particular embodiment, a user may provide anoverall rating for the interaction target by selecting an appropriaterating from multilevel rating scale 191 and the user may provide openended comments using input device 16 to type or otherwise insert textinto open-ended comment field 192. A user may submit the providedfeedback by selecting element 193b.

FIG. 9B illustrates an example graphical user interface 190 that mayfacilitate the collection of user feedback through the presentation ofmulti-level rating scale 191, open-ended comment element 192, and emailprovision element 194. Using email provision element 194, a user mayprovide an email address to which a response to the user's comments orother feedback may be sent.

FIG. 9C illustrates an example graphical user interface 190 that mayfacilitate the collection of user feedback through the presentation ofmulti-level rating scale 191, email selection element 196, and commentselection element 197. In this particular embodiment, a user may providea response to an example explicit question 195 by selecting anappropriate rating from multilevel rating scale 191. In certainembodiments, a user may provide a response to an explicit question 195using an open-ended comment field, selecting a choice from a drop-downmenu, or any other appropriate feedback technique. Through the use ofemail selection element 196, an email application may be launched onmobile device 10, with the address field pre-populated for userfeedback. In certain embodiments, a user may use comment selectionelement 197 to select the input technique that the user would like touse to provide open-ended comments. In the embodiments shown, the usermay select “Text” to launch an open-ended text field to type orotherwise enter textual feedback; or the user may select “Talk” tolaunch a voice recorder allowing the user to leave an audio feedbackmessage. In a particular embodiment, voice recognition logic may beutilized to convert an audio message to a text message. In certainembodiments, the voice recognition logic may be loaded on or accessibleby mobile device 10 and may allow a user to see text that has beenconverted from an audio message. In certain embodiments, a photo orvideo clip may be included with the feedback submitted with by themobile interaction application. For example, if a user comments that theoverall opinion of a restaurant is poor and comments that the restaurantwas not clean, the user could also attach a picture of the restaurantshowing a specific example of the cleanliness problem.

In certain embodiments, graphical user interface 190 may includemultiple multi-level rating scales 191 to facilitate the collection ofuser feedback for multiple categories. For example, in a particularembodiment, graphical user interface 190 may include separatemulti-level rating scales 191 with one each for customer service,facility appearance, product quality, and a user's overall opinion. Incertain embodiments the content and appearance of graphical userinterface 190 (and/or other interfaces) may be customized for aparticular target (such as a particular company, store, or product),user, or group of users. For example, different stores owned orfranchised by the same company may have the same or different associatedinterfaces. As another example, a particular user may have an interfacecustomized by or for the particular user. As another example, a group ofusers may be members of a particular group or club and the interface maybe customized for the members of that group or club. In certainembodiments, multiple interfaces may be generated for a particularcompany and randomly or selectively implemented for different users orgroups of users. In a particular embodiment, a company or brand maysponsor mobile application and use one or more of a variety ofsolicitations to solicit feedback for the company or brand. For example,the company may display plaques in their stores that promote the use ofthe mobile interaction application and also include a mobile interactionsolicitation targeted for the particular company, brand, and/or store.

In certain embodiments, in addition to the user feedback providedthrough the use of graphical user interface 190, additional contextualdata may be collected or associated with the user feedback. For example,a user may have a global or session specific option to also providetheir location information, a personal identifier (as opposed toanonymous feedback), group information (such as frequent flyer number,or frequent shopper account), demographic information (such as age,gender, occupation, or family status), or previous feedback history. Forexample, a user may have the option to have all feedback submittedanonymously or alternatively to submit certain feedback anonymously andhave other feedback submitted with personally identifiable information.In certain embodiments, the mobile interaction application mayautomatically include or associate contextual information with a user'sfeedback.

Examples of such contextual information may additionally include: (1)for a restaurant, the store number, the server's name, the meal ordered,the time of day, and/or the location of the user in the restaurant; (2)for an airline flight, the flight number, the seat number, theattendant's name, and/or the pilot's name; and/or (3) for a magazineadvertisement, the title and issue of the magazine in which theadvertisement appeared and/or the version of the advertisement. Incertain embodiments, some or all of this information may be encoded intographical element 150. Additional or alternative contextual informationmay include the brand and model of mobile device 10, the user's wirelessservice provider, and/or the application version.

In certain embodiments, although portions of graphical user interface190 may be designed or intended to collect specific types of userfeedback, additional types of feedback may also be collected. Forexample, graphical user interface 190 may be designed or intended tocollect feedback related to a particular store, but may be used toprovide feedback unrelated to the particular store, such as feedback ona particular product or advertising campaign. As another example,graphical user interface 190 may be designed or intended to collectfeedback related to a particular product or service, but may be used bymobile device users to provide feedback related to general corporateoperations or recent news about the business.

In certain embodiments, user feedback may be categorized by the userthat provides the feedback through the use of one or more toolsavailable at the time the feedback is provided. For example, while auser is viewing element graphical user interface 190, the user mayidentify a category for a particular user comment, using a topicselection element. As an alternative, all or a portion of the usercomments may be automatically categorized by one or more softwareapplications executed on a computer system, in response to the usercomments being accessed. For example, a software application executed ona computer system may utilize keyword associations to categorize usercomments. In addition, or as an alternative, a software applicationexecuted on a computer system may utilize inductive learning algorithms,including Bayesian filters, or other appropriate logic to categorizeuser comments. In certain embodiments, a software application executedon a computer may utilize natural language interpretation techniques.

In certain embodiments, user comments may be categorized at least inpart based on the user's demographic information, contextualinformation, or other information relating to the user or the user'smethods of providing feedback. For example, user comments may becategorized based on the user's location and/or any combination ofcontextual information collected or associated with the user or thefeedback. In certain embodiments, this categorization based ondemographic information or contextual information may be used as analternative to, or in addition to, categorization based on the user'scomments or other feedback.

At the time that feedback is provided by a user through the use of amobile interaction application, such feedback may provide a strongindication of whether the user is having a positive, neutral, ornegative experience. By processing this feedback in real-time, alone orin combination with other information, actions can be taken to improveor enhance that particular user's experience at or near that particularpoint in time. In situations where the particular user is having anegative experience, such real-time intervention may be necessary toretain the user as a customer. In some situations, the few seconds aftera user submits feedback may be the only opportunity to improve theuser's experience before they leave the store, never to return.Accordingly, the ability to take action in this few seconds may becritical to retain a user's business. Although not required, in certainembodiments, in order to take action to intervene with a particularuser's experience, characteristics of the user's experience must bedetermined, triggering or threshold requirements must be met, andappropriate interventions must be identified and delivered to theparticular user before the user leaves their current location.

In certain embodiments, feedback or comments collected through the useof a mobile interaction application may be combined or used togetherwith feedback or comments collected through other techniques. Examplesof other techniques include collecting feedback through the use of afeedback mechanism associated with a particular website, web page, orInternet distributed advertisement, collecting feedback through commentcards distributed at a point of sale or other location, and collectingfeedback through polls, surveys, or other random or selective datacollection techniques.

Comments, feedback, and other data collected through these varioustechniques may be evaluated and used determine an appropriate responseor intervention. Various embodiments may use a variety of triggers orthreshold criteria to determine when an intervention or response shouldbe initiated. For example, an intervention may be initiatedautomatically upon receipt of negative feedback. As another example, anintervention may be initiated once a user has provided feedback acertain number of times. In a particular embodiment, an intervention maybe triggered in response to an analysis of the words and phrases used inan open-ended comment or audio comment provided in feedback by the user.In various embodiments, this analysis may be performed through the useof Boolean queries, through the application of Bayesian filters, orthrough the use of alternative automated inductive learning algorithmsor other forms of artificial intelligence.

For example, based on an analysis of a plurality of user generatedcomments associated with corresponding multilevel ratings, a series offilters may be developed to identify particular words and phrases that,in combination, indicate a positive or negative user experience. Thesetypes of filters may be expanded to further consider additionalinformation such as user demographics and contextual data. In certainembodiments, natural language interpretation techniques may be used toanalyze particular blocks of text to evaluate the content. In certainembodiments, the threshold or trigger criteria may vary over time orfrom one user to the next according to specified criteria. For example,the threshold level may increase or decrease to some extent based onrandomization logic such that the intervention experience is notidentical from one user to the next. Through the use of such variation,additional information may be determined regarding the appropriatetrigger levels and/or the appropriate interventions to achieve optimalresults.

In certain embodiments, once a triggering threshold has been met and adetermination has been made to initiate an intervention, the appropriateintervention may be identified and presented to the particular user.Although in certain embodiments, a single intervention may apply to allusers who satisfy the specified triggering threshold, in alternativeembodiments, a variety of interventions may be available. For example,different interventions may be associated with different stores,different interventions may be associated with different types offeedback, different interventions may be associated with different userdemographics, etc. In a particular embodiment, comment feedback key-wordassociations may be used alone or in combination with contextual data tospecify a particular intervention. For example, if a negative feedbackis identified and the feedback includes a comment that contains the word“service,” then an intervention may be identified that provides a couponto discount the price the user pays for this or future purchases. Suchreal-time intervention may enhance the particular user's experience,which may result in continued or increased business by the user.

In a particular embodiment, an intervention may be in the form of atrouble ticket form that can be pre-populated with information collectedregarding the particular user's experience. For example, in response todetermining that a particular user has reported a problem related to aparticular product or service in an open-ended comment box in a feedbackform, a trouble ticket form may be generated that identifies the user'slocation, the product or service discussed, the text of the problemreported, and/or any other relevant information collected. Such atrouble ticket may be available for the particular user to review andsend without having to re-type any of the information previouslyprovided or to type information pre-populated in the trouble ticketform. Such intelligent support may encourage the user to submit thetrouble ticket, allowing for a proper response and the possibility ofcontinued use of the product or service by the user. In certainembodiments, such intelligent support may prevent the provision of thefeedback by the user from being the last interaction that the user haswith the product or service, or with the associated entity. In anotherparticular embodiment, an intervention may be in the form of a seatupgrade or a frequent flyer miles bonus. In certain embodiments, after auser has provided feedback, a response message may be generated. FIG. 10illustrates an example response generated after a user providesfeedback. The example response shown is in the form of a viewableelement illustrated acknowledgement 200. In certain embodiments,acknowledgement 200 may be presented in a separate screen from graphicaluser interface 190 or may be superimposed over graphical user interface190 in the same screen. In certain embodiments, acknowledgement 200 mayinclude a cordial response to the user, an acknowledgment that the userhas provided feedback, and/or any other appropriate message for theparticular user who provided the feedback.

In certain embodiments, as an alternative to or in addition toacknowledgement 200, mobile interaction application may generate anintervention or response based on the particular user's feedback,contextual information, and/or other collected information. FIG. 11illustrates an example intervention 210. In the example shown in FIG.11, intervention 210 includes a customized message 212 intended toaddress one or more issues related to the user experience for theparticular user. For example, if the particular user's feedbackindicated that the user was dissatisfied with the service at store atstore #16, this customized message would provide the particular userwith an incentive to try the store again in the future. Specifically,this example customized response would include a coupon or coupon codefor a free or discounted product or service. Intervention 210 may begenerated in real-time or substantially real-time in response to thefeedback or comments from the particular user. In certain embodiments,intervention 210 may be generated before the particular user leavestheir current location.

FIG. 12 illustrates another example intervention 210. In the embodimentshown, intervention 210 includes a generic response message 214 and aspecific response message 216, selected based on the informationreceived from or about the particular user. In this embodiment, ratherthan providing a coupon or coupon code, intervention 210 provides aphone number that the user may call to contact a service manager. Incertain embodiments, the phone number shown may also serve as a linkthat will enable the user to directly dial the phone number to contactthe customer service representative. In alternative embodiments, anappropriate intervention may take the form of an asynchronous messagingwindow that may allow the user to communicate asynchronously via textmessages with a help desk or other form of customer service center. Forexample, a live chat window may be generated that allows the user tocommunicate with a particular customer service representative who canassist with a particular issue the user may have. In another embodiment,an intervention may take the form of an audio or video clip that mayprovide additional information intended to address the user's particularexperience. In another embodiment, an intervention may take the form ofa direct live audio or video communication, such as a live videoconference with one or more individuals who may be able to address theuser's particular experience. In certain embodiments, an interventionmay offer the user a choice of one or more alternatives that the usermay select depending on their particular preferences. In certainembodiments, customized interventions may be generated to addressspecific aspects of a user's feedback or tailored to a specific user orgroup of users.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating an example method 230 for providingintelligent support. At step 232, information associated with a userexperience is accessed. The accessed information may include varioustypes of information, such as user feedback, historical data, contextualdata, and/or user demographic information. At step 234, interventiontrigger logic is accessed. In certain embodiments, such interventiontrigger logic may be stored in a database. In certain embodiments, theintervention trigger logic may be developed through the use of a toolthat may be used to associate certain triggering criteria with aparticular intervention element. At step 236, an intervention trigger isidentified. In certain embodiments, an intervention trigger may beidentified by applying the intervention trigger logic to at least aportion of the accessed information. At step 238, an interventionelement is generated. In certain embodiments, one or more interventionelements may be generated for presentation to the particular user, inresponse to the identification of at least one intervention trigger, toimprove the user experience for the particular user.

Information about a particular user's experience, including usercomments, feedback, and other types of information may be leveraged toobtain additional value for or from the particular user. For example, atthe time that feedback is provided by a user through the use of a mobileinteraction application or other feedback mechanism, such feedback mayprovide a strong indication of whether the user is having a positive,neutral, or negative experience. By processing this feedback inreal-time, alone or in combination with other information, actions canbe taken to leverage that particular user's experience at or near thatparticular point in time and/or particular location. For example, insituations where the particular user is having a positive experience,real-time actions may effectively leverage this positive experience forthe benefit of the user, store, airline, company, third-party, etc. Forexample, if a user provides positive feedback about a product or serviceand the feedback can be analyzed in real-time (or substantiallyreal-time), then action may be taken to introduce the user to similar orcomplimentary products or services. As another example, if a userprovides feedback indicating that they currently own or use an olderproduct or service, action may be taken to introduce the user to a newerproduct or service. In a particular embodiment, if it is determined thata particular user is using an older model product, a coupon oradvertisement may be generated and/or presented to the particular userto encourage them to upgrade to a newer model product. As yet anotherexample, if collected information indicates that the particular user isa frequent user of particular products or services, then action can betaken to provide additional benefits for that user as a reward for theirfrequent use. In a particular embodiment, as an example, if a userprovides feedback about a flight and it is determined that the user is amember of a frequent flyer program, a message may be displayed to theparticular user indicating that reduced rates or other advantages may beavailable to the user if they call in to a preferred customer servicephone number or follow a link to a preferred pricing web page.

In some situations, the few seconds after a user's feedback or otherinformation is collected may be the best opportunity to leverage theuser's experience, because the information may directly indicate thetypes of things that the particular user is currently or very recentlythinking about and may indicate whether the user has a positive ornegative view of those same things. For example, if a user providesfeedback indicating that they are very pleased with a particularproduct, the few seconds after they provide this feedback may be anideal time to inform them of other products that are complimentary tothe product that they are currently pleased with. This opportunity mayvanish after the user leaves the store or after the user has begunconsidering other topics. Accordingly, the ability to take action inthis few seconds may be critical to leverage the experience of aparticular user. Appropriate actions may include any of the techniquesdescribed herein for interventions and may also include advertisements,coupons, or other marketing and cross-selling techniques. Although notrequired, in certain embodiments, in order to take action to leverage aparticular user's experience, characteristics of the user's experiencemust be determined, triggering or threshold requirements must be met,and appropriate action must be identified and initiated before the userleaves a particular location.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example method 240 for leveraging a userexperience. At step 242, information associated with a user experienceis accessed. The accessed information may include various types ofinformation, such as user feedback, historical data, contextual data,and/or user demographic information. At step 244, triggering logic isaccessed. In certain embodiments, such triggering logic may be stored ina database. In certain embodiments, the triggering logic may bedeveloped through the use of a tool that may be used to associatecertain triggering criteria with actions to leverage a user experience.At step 246, a trigger is identified. In certain embodiments, thetrigger may be identified by applying the triggering logic to at least aportion of the accessed information. At step 248, a viewable element isgenerated to leverage a user experience.

Although example methods are described, the steps may be accomplished inany appropriate order and the present invention contemplates usingmethods with additional steps, fewer steps, or different steps, so longas the methods remain appropriate for providing intelligent support orleveraging a user experience. For example, certain embodiments mayinclude presenting a generated intervention or viewable element to aparticular user. As another example, certain embodiments may includecollecting information regarding the particular user's response to atleast one of the one or more viewable or intervention elements. Forexample, certain embodiments may detect whether a user clicked a linkprovided, viewed a video clip provided, listened to an audio clipprovided, called a telephone number provided, purchased an advertisedproduct, applied a coupon, or utilized an asynchronous messagingapplication, such as a live chat window. Certain types of interventionsmay include additional feedback collection features that the user mayuse to provide feedback on the user. For example, if the user wasprovided with information or directed to a source of information, theuser may provide feedback that the information was helpful or nothelpful. Certain embodiments utilize such collected information tocorrelate user or customer retention with intervention utilization or tocorrelate actions taken to leverage the user's experience with benefitsobtained by or for that user. For example, certain embodiments maydetermine what if any impact certain interventions or actions may haveon the churn rate of particular users, categories of users, or users ingeneral.

Feedback from customers, partners, and the general public can becollected through the use of various tools and techniques. For example,feedback may be collected over the phone, such as through a call centeror help desk. As another example, feedback may be collected in person,such as in focus groups or live marketing surveys. As another example,feedback may be written down and submitted through the mail orotherwise, such as in the case of a mail-in comment card. As anotherexample, feedback may be collected electronically, such as through theuse of a mobile device, computer, interactive television system, etc. Incertain embodiments, feedback may be collected through the use of amobile interaction application. In certain embodiments, feedback may becollected through the use of a feedback mechanism associated with aparticular web site, web page, or Internet distributed advertisement. Incertain embodiments, feedback may be collected through the use of afeedback mechanism associated with a particular television program,movie, or video advertisement. In the description provided, many exampleembodiments utilize electronically collected feedback, and moreparticularly feedback collected through a mobile interactionapplication, as an example; however, alternative embodiments of thepresent invention may utilize or operate with feedback collected usingalternative tools and techniques, alone or in combination with feedbackelectronically collected through a mobile interaction application. Thepresent invention is intended to encompass these alternativeembodiments.

In certain embodiments, although a mobile interaction application may bedesigned or intended to collect specific types of user feedback,additional types of feedback may also be collected. For example, amobile interaction application may be designed or intended to collectfeedback related to a particular product, but may be used to providefeedback unrelated to the particular product, such as feedback on one ormore customer service or facilities related issues. As another example,a mobile interaction application may be designed or intended to collectfeedback related to a particular service, but may be used to providefeedback related to general corporate operations or recent news aboutthe business. In embodiments of graphical user interface 190 thatinclude an element for open-ended user feedback, the element may collectuser feedback related to various aspects of a business and itsoperation. This user feedback may be broadly referred to as businessintelligence. Such business intelligence may be related to any aspect ofa business and its operation. For example, business intelligence mayinclude e-commerce information, customer service, sales, facilities,environmental impact, products and services, marketing, corporateoperations, etc.

In certain embodiments, user feedback related to business intelligencemay be categorized by the user, software, or others. In certainembodiments, user comments may be categorized by associating each usercomment with one or more categories selected from a predefined group ofcategories. For example, an analyst may view a comment, either printedon paper or displayed by a computer, and then using a computer systemthe analyst may submit information into a database to associate the usercomment with one or more predefined business-related categories. Incertain embodiments, user comments may be categorized at least in partbased on the user's demographic information, contextual information, orother information relating to the user or the user's methods ofproviding feedback. For example, user comments may be categorizedmanually or automatically based on the user's mobile identificationnumber, area code, location, username, password, service provider,mobile device type, mobile device brand, time zone, application version,and/or information on a SIM card. In certain embodiments, this manual orautomatic categorization may be used as an alternative to, or inaddition to, categorization based on the user's comments or otherfeedback.

Example business-related categories may include customer service, sales,facilities, environmental impact, product, marketing, corporateoperations and categories related to e-commerce. In certain embodiments,one or more of these business-related categories may include one or moresub-categories.

In certain embodiments, a subjective assessment of each user comment maybe provided and ratings may be assigned to each user comment. In certainembodiments, user comments may be subjectively assessed by one or moreanalysts who may read user comments and then assign one or more ratingsto each user comment. For example, an analyst may view a comment, eitherprinted on paper or displayed by a computer; analyze the comment toprovide a subjective assessment; and then using a computer system theanalyst may submit information into a database to assign a rating to theuser comment. As another alternative, all or a portion of the usercomments may be automatically assessed by one or more softwareapplications executed on a computer system. For example, a softwareapplication executed on a computer system may utilize keywordassociations to assess user comments. In addition, or as an alternative,a software application executed on a computer system may utilizeinductive learning algorithms, Bayesian filters, or other appropriatelogic to rate user comments.

Example ratings may include positive, negative, and neutral ratings.Example ratings may range from positive integers to negative integers,with zero being a neutral rating (e.g., from −3 to +3). Example ratingsmay be only positive integers, with a specified integer being associatedwith a neutral rating, integers above that specified integer beingassociated with a positive rating, and integers below that specifiedinteger being associated with a negative rating (e.g., from 1 to 5).Example ratings may be color-coded, with certain colors being associatedwith certain ratings. For example, green may be associated with positiveratings, red may be associated with negative ratings, and black oryellow may be associated with neutral ratings.

In certain embodiments, a report of user feedback may be generated. Thereport may include, for example, category indicators each identifyingone of a plurality of business-related categories, and a plurality ofquantitative indicators identifying, for each of the plurality ofbusiness-related categories, one or more quantitative values derivedfrom collected user comments collected. For example, a quantitativeindicator may identify the quantity of collected user commentsassociated with a particular business-related category. As anotherexample, a quantitative indicator may identify the quantity of collecteduser comments assigned to a particular rating. As another example, aquantitative indicator may identify an average rating for multiplecollected user comments associated with a particular business-relatedcategory. As another example, a quantitative indicator may identify adifference between a current average rating and a previous averagerating. As another example, a quantitative indicator may identify a rateof change in the average rating for collected user comments associatedwith a particular category.

In certain embodiments, the report may be based on user feedbackreceived within a specified period of time, such as user feedbackreceived in the last day, week, month, quarter, etc. In certainembodiments, the report may be based on a certain number of usercomments. For example, the report may indicate how many of the lastone-thousand comments are associated with each business-relatedcategory.

In certain embodiments, a feedback report may be electronicallygenerated and may be presented in an electronic format and displayed,for example, on a computer monitor or other form of electronic display.In a particular embodiment, the report may be updated in substantiallyreal time, such that the information displayed in the report changesover time as additional user feedback is received. In these embodiments,the rate at which the report is updated may depend, among other things,upon the rate at which user feedback is categorized and assessed. Incertain embodiments, a report may be used to provide an organized metricfor assessing the health of a business and its operation across numerousbusiness-related categories. In certain embodiments, a report may beused to provide a substantially real-time indication of customer,partner, and/or general public responses to one or more actions taken bya business. For example, a report may indicate customer responses to anew product introduced by a business. As another example, a report mayindicate a general public response to actions taken by a business thathave been discussed recently by one or more news media.

In certain embodiments, one or more software applications executed on acomputer system may be utilized to generate a feedback report. In theseembodiments, the one or more software applications executed on acomputer system may further be utilized to generate automated alertsbased on one or more criteria associated with the categorized userfeedback. For example, if the quantity of user comments exceeds acertain limit within a specified period of time, an automated alert maybe generated. In an alternative embodiment, if a certain number of usercomments having a negative rating are received in a specified period oftime, then an automated alert may be generated. Such an automated alertmay include, for example, an email or a text message sent to a personwithin the business designated as having responsibility for a particularcategory. In certain embodiments, the target of an alert may be selectedbased on location, importance, function, or scope. For example, feedbackabout a particular store may be directed to the store's local managerfor certain levels of feedback, to a regional manager for certain levelsof feedback, and to a corporate manager for certain levels of feedback.In certain embodiments, alerts may be triggered based on the volume offeedback associated with a particular store, product, location, etc. Incertain embodiments, feedback may be filtered to increase itsreliability before triggering logic or other logic is applied. Forexample, if numerous comments are provided from the same location,mobile device, or user within a certain period of time, the comments maybe filtered to avoid overweighting the opinion of a single user or groupof users.

Several embodiments of the invention may include logic embodied intangible media. For example, certain embodiments include softwareembodied in a tangible computer readable medium. Such logic may includecomputer software stored in a memory, executable on one or moreprocessors, and operable when executed to perform one or more of thefunctions described herein. Example tangible media may include randomaccess memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), various types of optical ormagnetic disk drives, flash memory, or removable storage media. Forexample, logic may be encoded on removable SIM, memory card, CD, DVD,flash drive, or tape media. In certain embodiments, the logic may becontained within a hardware configuration or a combination of softwareand hardware configurations. In certain embodiments, the logic may bestored in flash memory or another type of memory on a mobile device. Thelogic may also be embedded within any other suitable medium withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

Particular embodiments may be implemented as hardware, software, or acombination of hardware and software. As an example and not by way oflimitation, one or more computer systems may execute particular logic orsoftware to perform one or more steps of one or more processes describedor illustrated herein. One or more of the computer systems may beunitary or distributed, spanning multiple computer systems or multipledatacenters, where appropriate. The present disclosure contemplates anysuitable computer system. In particular embodiments, performing one ormore steps of one or more processes described or illustrated herein neednot necessarily be limited to one or more particular geographiclocations and need not necessarily have temporal limitations. As anexample and not by way of limitation, one or more computer systems maycarry out their functions in “real time,” “offline,” in “batch mode,”otherwise, or in a suitable combination of the foregoing, whereappropriate. One or more of the computer systems may carry out one ormore portions of their functions at different times, at differentlocations, using different processing, where appropriate.

Software implementing particular embodiments may be written in anysuitable programming language (which may be procedural or objectoriented) or combination of programming languages, where appropriate.Any suitable type of computer system (such as a single- ormultiple-processor computer system) or systems may execute softwareimplementing particular embodiments, where appropriate. Ageneral-purpose computer system may execute software implementingparticular embodiments, where appropriate. In certain embodiments,portions of logic may be transmitted and or received by a componentduring the implementation of one or more functions.

Although the present invention has been described with severalembodiments, a plenitude of changes, variations, alterations,transformations, and modifications may be suggested to one skilled inthe art, and it is intended that the present invention encompass suchchanges, variations, alterations, transformations, and modifications asfall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for collecting feedback from a mobiledevice user using a mobile interaction application executed on one ormore processors of a mobile device, the method comprising: receiving aselection of a target of the feedback from the mobile device user;presenting a graphical user interface on a display of the mobile device,the graphical user interface comprising: a multi-level rating scale; andan open-ended comment element; receiving feedback associated with theselected target from the mobile device user through an input device ofthe mobile device, the received feedback corresponding to at least oneof the multi-level rating scale and the open-ended comment element; andwirelessly transmitting a message including the received feedbackassociated with the selected target and corresponding to at least one ofthe multi-level rating scale and the open-ended comment element.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the selection of the target of the feedbackcomprises: determining a current location of the mobile device; andpresenting one or more potential targets on the display of the mobiledevice, the potential targets identified based on proximity to thelocation of the mobile device; and wherein the selected target isselected from the one or more potential targets presented on the displayof the mobile device.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selection ofthe target of the feedback comprises: receiving a digital image of abarcode acquired by a digital camera on the mobile device; andpresenting one or more potential targets on the display of the mobiledevice, the potential targets identified based on an association withthe barcode; and wherein the selected target is selected from the one ormore potential targets presented on the display of the mobile device. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface presented onthe display of the mobile device is customized for the selected targetof the feedback.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical userinterface presented on the display of the mobile device comprises anexplicit question concerning the selected target.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein the selection of a target of the feedback from the mobiledevice user is received through an input device on the mobile device,the input device being from the group consisting of a touchscreen, akeypad, a directional pad, and a trackball.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving a confirmation message in response to thewirelessly transmitted message; graphically presenting the confirmationon the display of the mobile device.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving an intervention customized to address specificcomments included in the wirelessly transmitted message; graphicallypresenting the intervention on the display of the mobile device. 9.Software for collecting feedback from a mobile device user, the softwareembodied in a tangible media and operable, when executed by one or moreprocessors on a mobile device, to: receive a selection of a target ofthe feedback from the mobile device user; present a graphical userinterface on a display of the mobile device, the graphical userinterface comprising: a multi-level rating scale; and an open-endedcomment element; receive feedback associated with the selected targetfrom the mobile device user through an input device of the mobiledevice, the received feedback corresponding to at least one of themulti-level rating scale and the open-ended comment element; andwirelessly transmit a message including the received feedback associatedwith the selected target and corresponding to at least one of themulti-level rating scale and the open-ended comment element.
 10. Thesoftware of claim 9, further operable to: determine a current locationof the mobile device; and present one or more potential targets on thedisplay of the mobile device, the potential targets identified based onproximity to the location of the mobile device; and wherein the selectedtarget is selected from the one or more potential targets presented onthe display of the mobile device.
 11. The software of claim 9, furtheroperable to: receive a digital image of a barcode acquired by a digitalcamera on the mobile device; and present one or more potential targetson the display of the mobile device, the potential targets identifiedbased on an association with the barcode; and wherein the selectedtarget is selected from the one or more potential targets presented onthe display of the mobile device.
 12. The software of claim 9, whereinthe graphical user interface presented on the display of the mobiledevice is customized for the selected target of the feedback.
 13. Thesoftware of claim 9, wherein the graphical user interface presented onthe display of the mobile device comprises an explicit questionconcerning the selected target.
 14. The software of claim 9, wherein theselection of a target of the feedback from the mobile device user isreceived through an input device on the mobile device, the input devicebeing from the group consisting of a touchscreen, a keypad, adirectional pad, and a trackball.
 15. The software of claim 9, furtheroperable to: receive a confirmation message in response to thewirelessly transmitted message; graphically present the confirmation onthe display of the mobile device.
 16. The software of claim 9, furtheroperable to: receive an intervention customized to address specificcomments included in the wirelessly transmitted message; graphicallypresent the intervention on the display of the mobile device.
 17. Amobile apparatus for use in collecting feedback for a selected target,the mobile apparatus comprising: a wireless transceiver; a digitaldisplay; a digital camera; one or more processors coupled to thetransceiver, the digital display, and the digital camera; and memorycoupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing programinstructions configured, when executed by the one or more processors,to: receive data from the digital camera, the data corresponding to abarcode image collected by digital camera; transmit an outgoing messageusing the wireless transceiver, the outgoing message containing at datacorresponding to at least a portion of the barcode image; receive anincoming message using the wireless transceiver, the incoming messagecontaining parameters for one or more feedback solicitation elementsbased on the data contained in the outgoing message; and using theparameters received in the incoming message, present the one or morefeedback solicitation elements on the digital display.
 18. The mobileapparatus of claim 1, wherein the barcode image corresponds to a barcodeof a type included in the group consisting of: a one-dimensionalbarcode; a two-dimensional square barcode; a two-dimensional rectangularbarcode; and a two-dimensional round barcode.
 19. The mobile apparatusof claim 1, wherein the barcode image corresponds to a color barcode.20. A computer-implemented method for providing mobile interaction,comprising: using a computer system, accessing information associatedwith a user experience for a particular mobile user and associated witha target entity, the accessed information including user feedbackcollected from the particular mobile user using mobile interactionsoftware on a mobile device, the target entity having been selectedbased either on association with a location of the mobile device or onassociation with a graphical image collected by a camera on the mobiledevice; using a computer system, accessing intervention trigger logic;using a computer system, identifying at least one intervention triggerby applying the intervention trigger logic to at least a portion of theaccessed information associated with the user experience; and using acomputer system, generating one or more intervention elements forpresentation to the particular mobile user, in response to theidentification of at least one intervention trigger.
 21. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the accessed information associated with a userexperience for a particular mobile user includes contextual informationregarding one or more aspects of the particular user's mobile device,the contextual information comprising at least one selected from thegroup consisting of a mobile device brand, a mobile device model, asoftware version, a network access provider, and a location of themobile device.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein: the informationcomprises at least one comment collected from the particular mobile userusing feedback collection software; and the intervention trigger logicis applied to at least a portion of the accessed information byanalyzing the contents of the at least one comment collected from theparticular mobile user.
 23. The method of claim 20, further comprising,using a computer system, presenting at least one of the one or moreintervention elements to the particular user, wherein the at least oneof the one or more intervention elements comprises at least one selectedfrom the group consisting of an asynchronous messaging application, ahypertext link to a web page, an audio element, and a video element. 24.The method of claim 20, further comprising, using a computer system,transmitting at least one of the one or more intervention elements tothe mobile device of the particular user in substantially real-timeafter the user feedback has been collected from the particular userusing feedback collection software.
 25. The method of claim 24, furthercomprising, using a computer system, collecting information regardingthe particular user's response to at least one of the one or moreintervention elements.